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Supreme Court To Hear Plea Against Lawyers Who Said They Beat Up JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar

Supreme Court To Hear Plea Against Lawyers Who Said They Beat Up JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar
NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 2: The Supreme Court has agreed to refer a curative petition challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to a five-judge constitution bench for hearing on February 2, 2016 in New Delhi, India. The LGBT community has expressed hope that the Supreme Court would protect and legalise their sexual rights. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur had earlier agreed to hear the curative petition against the apex court's December 2013 judgement upholding validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalises sexual activities against the order of nature, arguably including the homosexual acts, and a January 2014 order by which it had dismissed a bunch of review petitions. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 2: The Supreme Court has agreed to refer a curative petition challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to a five-judge constitution bench for hearing on February 2, 2016 in New Delhi, India. The LGBT community has expressed hope that the Supreme Court would protect and legalise their sexual rights. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur had earlier agreed to hear the curative petition against the apex court's December 2013 judgement upholding validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalises sexual activities against the order of nature, arguably including the homosexual acts, and a January 2014 order by which it had dismissed a bunch of review petitions. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider a plea seeking contempt action against three lawyers allegedly caught on camera bragging and boasting that they had beaten up Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar in police lock-up for three hours at the Patiala House Court complex.

"This allegation has been never made before us. This is a new allegation which has come up. You file an appropriate petition and we will consider it," a bench comprising Justice J Chelameswar and Justice A M Sapre said after a plea for contempt action against these lawyers was mentioned before it.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan said the three lawyers who were allegedly involved in violence at Patiala House Court Complex on February 15 and 17 had conceded in a sting operation aired by some news channels that they had beaten up the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President.

"These three lawyers were at the forefront during the violent incidents at Patiala House Court Complex on February 15 and 17. They had conceded in a sting operations aired by two news channels yesterday that they had beaten up Kanhaiya Kumar," Bhushan said.

He said these lawyers have "bragged and boasted" in the sting operation that next time they will bring petrol bombs and were even ready to go to the jail to beat Kumar in his cell.

"These bragging and boasting by the lawyers is trampling the rule of law. It's high time that the Supreme Court takes suo motu notice of the matter and issue contempt notice against these lawyers," Bhushan said.

To this, the bench asked Bhushan whether anybody has lodged a case against the three lawyers or has Kanhaiya Kumar accepted that they had beaten him in the police lock-up.

Bhushan, while replying to the query, alleged that police was complacent about lodging any complaint regarding the violence in Patiala House and even Kumar has not said anything about any such incident.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the petitioner N D Jaya Prakash, submitted that a report of National Human Rights Commission has said that Kumar was being terrorised by the lawyers.

She said there was a genuine threat perception to the accused and his security and safety needs to be ensured.

The bench then said it will look into the matter after a proper application is filed. (More) PTI SJK MNL RKS

[6:06]

The bench also directed the registry that the said video footage in original recorded by senior advocate Haren Rawal, a member committee appointed by the apex court, be kept in a pen drive in a sealed cover to avoid any future dispute regarding its authenticity.

The apex court had yesterday made it clear that it would confine itself to the violence in Patiala House court complex on February 15 and 17 in which JNU students, teachers and journalists were attacked during the hearing of sedition case against JNUSU head Kanhaiya Kumar.

Kanhaiya had on February 18 directly moved the apex court seeking bail while claiming threat to his life in Tihar jail.

In the petition, filed through advocate Anindita Pujari, Kanhaiya, who was also attacked in Patiala House court complex by a group of lawyers, had claimed innocence.

Kanhaiya was arrested on February 12 on sedition charge following a controversial event at JNU campus where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised.

The student leader was produced in the court on February 17 after expiry of his police custody, where a group of men dressed in lawyers' robes unleashed a brazen attack on him and others including journalists present there.

Kanhaiya had sought the apex court's intervention, saying no purpose would be served by keeping him in the jail and the police was finding it difficult to even produce him in the court.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.